Shift
by unifilar
Summary: Nick and Jess are fighting, and it affects the whole loft. Set immediately after "Tomatoes." Nick/Jess.


After the fight, life around the apartment became unbearable.

For Schmidt and Winston.

Jess was now prone to speak louder every time Nick walked by or was in the same room as her, which was ninety percent of the time. Whenever he was there, a sudden flush of hot anger would flood over her, making her shout furiously at Schmidt or Winston even though they were having a normal conversation.

"So how was your date last night with Shelby?" Jess yelled heatedly, making Winston recoil from the sudden onslaught of noise and agitation.

"Uh, it was alright, we went to this one restaurant…" he attempted to begin, hoping this was just a weird quirk and Jess would calm down in a minute.

"Oh really? A restaurant? How great!" she continued to bellow, and Winston saw Nick slam a drawer shut in the kitchen. Winston scooted closer to Jess on the couch.

"Jess, are you and Nick in a…." Winston tried to ask, sensing the tension between the two. Jess broke out into a forced, raucous laughter.

"Oh, Winston, you're hilarious! I'm so glad to have you here, since some people in this apartment are so _stupid_ and _insensitive _and don't know when to take advice from a friend!" Her voice got increasingly louder, and finally Nick closed a cabinet door with a loud smack, storming from the kitchen and to his bedroom.

"Jess, what is going on?" Winston asked, watching Jess watch Nick walk away. She turned back to him, startled, as if she just realized Winston was there.

"What? Nothing. Nothing's going on," she said, jumping to her feet and marching to her room, leaving Winston feeling very confused and contemplating buying earplugs until this whole mess was over with.

* * *

Schmidt was having difficulties as well.

Nick and Jess were supposed to help him with dinner that night. They just glared at each other across the counter, Jess slicing a zucchini with the force of a lumberjack cutting a redwood and Nick ripping leaves from a head of lettuce like he was an angsty teen ripping out pages from a tightly-bound textbook.

"Jess, you're literally cutting into the uncuttable cutting board. You're doing the impossible, which would normally be impressive, but that board was made by one of the most prestigious sushi chefs in all of Japan. Pull back on your herculean strength for a second. Pretend you're cutting into soft butter. Nick, you're shedding lettuce everywhere like its dead skin. Treat it like a bird, and you're gently plucking its feathers," Schmidt said, already sensing a panic attack forming from allowing such callous, amateur cooks into his most sanctified areas of creation.

Jess continued to drive the knife into the poor vegetable with ferocity, her eyes never leaving Nick's.

"Maybe the zucchini is just stubborn and refuses to admit its wrong," she said coolly, making Schmidt furrow his brow.

"What? Jess, you're not making any…"

"Maybe the lettuce is bossy and is sticking its nose into other people's business," Nick retorted, his voice raising. Schmidt looked between the two.

"Are you guys alright, or…?"

"Maybe the lettuce wouldn't have to stick its nose into other people's business if the zucchini wasn't making such a huge mistake!" Jess said, abruptly shouting. Schmidt flinched, wondering what the hell was going on.

Nick slammed his hands on the table, making dishes rattle.

"Maybe the lettuce just needs to butt out and worry about their own damn life!" he said, and Jess dropped her knife, clenching her hands at her side.

"Maybe the zucchini needs to actually try to fix their own life and stop relying on other vegetables for their own happiness!"

"Maybe the lettuce is just angry because they broke up with their asparagus and now they're all alone!" Nick hollered back, reaching and grabbing a stalk of asparagus, holding in front of Jess' face.

It became very quiet. Jess had not told anyone else that she stopped seeing Russell, and Schmidt could see that a chord had been struck. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth hung open helplessly.

Nick immediately sensed his mistake. Regret flashed in his eyes, and he lowered the asparagus.

"Jess, I…"

But before he could apologize, Jess stuck her hand into the bowl of mashed potatoes, scooped out a hearty handful, and smashed it into Nick's face. Then, for good measure, she rubbed some more into his hair, and stomped all the way to her bedroom, her door almost cracking from the force of her banging it shut.

Schmidt just stared at Nick, who was slowly wiping a hand over his face.

"Nick, what just happened? You two just had an argument about food- which do not have feelings, by the way- and Jess just ruined my hand-mashed potatoes. Are you guys-…"

"Just, leave me alone, Schmidt. It's fine," Nick mumbled, his chair making a loud squeaking sound as he pushed it back, leaving to go to the bathroom. Schmidt threw his hands up, at a loss.

* * *

Schmidt and Winston knew something was wrong, but Nick and Jess refused to talk about it, no matter how many times they tried to coax it out of them. Schmidt had to do something when, after having another yelling match with Nick, Jess knocked into Schmidt on her way back to her bedroom, making him drop a porcelain bowl full of cantaloupe slices.

He just gaped at the wreckage at his feet, tears springing to his eyes.

_This has become madness_, he thought.

Winston yelped in surprised when Schmidt grabbed his arm and dragged him to the kitchen.

"What do you want?" he asked. Schmidt pressed a finger to his lips, shushing him.

"Be quiet. I don't want Jess or Nick overhearing."

"Overhearing what?"

"Our plan to make them make up. I can't handle this anymore, Winston. The chaotic turbulence that their conflict has wrought just broke one of my prized porcelain treasures. I can't bring that back."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I wasn't able to sleep last night because Jess won't stop listening to her record player at the highest possible volume. I fell asleep in the middle of a radio interview today."

"Exactly. So, what do we do?"

"I don't know, man. Shouldn't we just let them work it out themselves?"

"No, that's the opposite of what we should do. We should intervene as much as we can."

"I don't think-…"

But Winston was cut off when Nick came into the kitchen area, screaming behind him.

"Maybe the lettuce doesn't know what's best for _everyone!_"

Schmidt spread his arms wide, exasperated.

"You're still going with the vegetable metaphors? It's been two days!"

"What? It's fine." Nick noticed that Winston and Schmidt were standing fairly close to each other, like they had been having a covert meeting. He gestured between the two of them. "What's this?"

"Nothing, nothing, we were just-…" Winston began, but Schmidt interrupted.

"We need you and Jess to cut it out. You're tearing this family apart!" Schmidt said, and Winston's eyes rolled to the ceiling. Not only could he never get a full sentence out around Schmidt, but now he was part of a very melodramatic situation.

"Are you guys serious? It's not a big deal. We're just having a healthy and mature debate, you know, like adults," Nick said, shrugging, sitting on a stool. A moment later, Jess rushed into the room, her skirt swishing around her hips.

"Oh yeah? Well, the zucchini wouldn't know that because they never-…" she trailed off, seeing Schmidt and Winston's expressions. "What?"

Schmidt looked pointedly to Nick.

"See? This is what we mean!"

"'We?' No no, I'm not a part of this," Winston said, stepping back and leaning against the counter, hands raised.

"They think we're in a fight," Nick explained to Jess, scoffing as if the idea was absurd. Jess lowered her shoulders, relaxing her posture completely. She forced a choked chuckle to her lips.

"Really? That's silly, we're just…discussing…things," she said, though she seemed suddenly confused herself.

"You've got to be kidding me. You two made Mrs. Newman's baby cry because of how loud you were bickering, and she lives two floors below us! She's filing a noise complaint!" Schmidt said, and moved forward, pointing to Jess. "Are you upset that Nick got back together with Caroline?"

She stiffened. Of course she was, but when Schmidt said it like that, it made it sound like she was jealous. Like she didn't want Nick in a relationship with Caroline because she wanted him to be with her. Which was_ ridiculous_ and not the case at all, but if she answered Schmidt's answer in the affirmative, that was what everyone would think.

Everyone was looking at her, waiting for an answer- especially Nick. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his mouth was drawn into a line. He was looking at her with an inscrutable expression- maybe it was curiosity, or intrigue, or worry, or something else, but she could not read it.

"I….uh, no…no," she said, repeating it with resolution. She didn't see it, but something dimmed in Nick's eyes at her response, making a breath (that he hadn't even noticed he had been holding) escape his lips.

"I'm not, I'm just…I'm just upset that Russell and I broke up, I guess," she said, slouching with the weight of disappointment in herself. She looked to Nick, feeling genuinely remorseful. "I'm so sorry, Nick. I suppose I took out my anger on you, since you have Caroline now and I'm…alone."

The words sounded right, and they settled in their proper spots between them all. She could almost feel everything shift before her eyes, back to their correct positions. Everyone seemed more comfortable, more understanding. Concern was now present Schmidt and Winston's expressions, and Nick pressed his lips together and lifted his brow sympathetically.

Yes, that must be it. She was just upset about her breakup.

_Yeah, that's all,_ she thought, much more at ease within herself.

"It's ok, Jess. I get it," Nick said, his voice deadpan.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Schmidt asked her, trying to be helpful.

"No, no, it's ok. I'll call Cece over, this needs a girl talk," she said, confident with that decision as well. Everything made sense now.

"Ok, well, let us know if you need us," Winston said. Jess nodded gratefully and smiled at all of them.

"Thanks, guys. I appreciate it," she said, and she instinctively raised her hand to touch Nick's arm, to let him know she was still sorry and she was thankful for his support, but just as she began the movement, she changed her mind.

She gave a half-hearted wave instead, leaving to go to her room.

An odd silence filled the kitchen as her departure. Winston awkwardly broke it.

"Well, that settles that," he said, lamely. Nick didn't respond right away, instead staring at the space in front of him. A faint, strange sensation was present in his stomach, tightly wound, yet it seemed to exist just beyond his realm of comprehension. He did not know what to name it, so he resolved to quench it in the most reliable way he knew how.

"Could you hand me a beer from the fridge?" he asked Schmidt, who was surprised at the request but complied. Schmidt and Winston exchanged glances as Nick took a swig.

Everything was figured out, so why did it feel like they were missing something?

**end.**

* * *

**Author's Note**: I wanted to address the conflicting feelings Jess must be having at this point, because she's upset at Nick but also upset at herself, and something is wrong about the whole situation but she doesn't know what. Here's hoping she figures it out soon. I wanted to kind of show the transition from the last episode, "Tomatoes," to the new one, because you know that the tension between them didn't go away soon. It probably took some time. For me, it's all about what this show implies but doesn't say. This show is ALL about the "show, don't tell" rule, I freakin' love it. That's why I'm obsessed with all the little moments, and the little moments that happen off-screen, like Nick coming to Jess first about his tomatoes idea (expect a fanfic about that).

I literally cannot get enough of this show, nor of the beautiful reviews you guys have left! It really means so much, and I hope you know that I love and appreciate all of you for your kind words! I will continue writing fanfiction of these two as long as you guys want me to and as long as you don't get annoyed with how often I write about them, heh. Thank you all! I hope you like this too!


End file.
